thefiremargins

by Lisanne Norman

"I've survived at least four attempts on my life in the past ten years, Noni. If I can do it, I can see he's safe!"

  "Is he safe from you?"

  Her eyes bored into his, stripping away what they could of his barriers. He looked away.

  "You'll kill him if he betrays your people once more, won't you?"

  "I'd have no choice." His voice was bleak. "All he has to do is trust me."

  "Why should he, Tallinu, when you don't trust him, eh? He knows you're waiting for him to slip up in some way."

  "I'm not. I want to trust him."

  "Ghezu's told him that this female is his mother."

  He said nothing.

  "He's told him you raped her. Used drugs on her so she became pregnant with him."

  The accusation stung him into replying. "Ghezu can't know that! As Vartra's my witness, I never used drugs on her!"

  She raised an eye ridge at him. "Doesn't he? Or has he made it up, like the drugs? What did you do to her, Tallinu? You never told me."

  "That's none of your business, Rhuna," he snapped. "You won't goad me into telling you. It's between her and me, no one else!"

  She sighed. "It's time you told him he's your son, Tallinu. Ghezu's meddling has made him hate you more, especially now he knows you didn't trust him enough to tell him that. He could be capable of trying to kill you in the belief you dishonored his mother and him. If you tell him now, it might repair the damage."

  "Dammit, Rhuna, I had no choice over Khemu, you know that!" he said angrily. "I couldn't get near her after that night, her family made sure of that! The first I knew she was still alive was when I found Dzaka at the gates of Stronghold! As for telling him, I didn't dare. It was bad enough Ghezu knew I was his foster-father, I didn't dare let him know he was my real son! It was the only thing I could do to protect him from Ghezu. He's guessing, he doesn't know the truth. If he did, he'd kill Dzaka himself, you know it."

  She nodded. "Like as not, now he would. His mind is diseased, Tallinu. He's not sane."

  "There's been a reckoning building between me and him for years, Noni," said Kaid grimly. "By telling Dzaka those lies, he's just signed his own death contract."

  "In Vartra's name, leave it till after the Fire Margins, Tallinu. Too much depends on you taking them safely there. You have to go there before you see to Ghezu!"

  "I'll decide what needs to be done first, Noni," he said. "Ghezu was right in that I did dishonor Dzaka's mother, but through no fault of my own. I need to do what I can to right it with Khemu before she dies. If Ghezu's expecting me in Rhijudu, then I won't keep him waiting."

  "No, Tallinu! You mustn't go! The God needs you to guide them to Him!"

  He saw real panic on her face and in her voice. "What's wrong, Noni?" he asked. "Did your plans go wrong this time? But you know me so well." His voice was a low, sarcastic purr. "You should have known I wouldn't go before Vartra with that stain on my honor given a chance to clear it. If it's all meant to be, then you know I'm doing what I should."

  He cut the connection and sat there trying to gather his thoughts. Khemu. Small and slim, her pelt and hair a soft silver gray. How could someone so alive be dying? He remembered when they'd first met.

  The Brotherhood always used one particular tavern in the village. Khemu, from the Arrazo Telepath Clan, was one of a small group of females that found the Brothers' company exciting. She was often to be seen there, chatting to the young males who had to leave to visit the village. He and Ghezu had been part of that group. She'd played them all off against each other, but particularly him and Ghezu— until the night she'd asked him to walk her home.

  Unbidden, the memory of the long-gone Rezac and his Leska came to mind. His Khemu hadn't been like her, with hair the color of the sun. No, she was like the soft moonlight, but she'd burned him just as surely as Rezac had been burned by his Leska.

  A thumping on the door brought him back to the present and he leaned forward to open it.

  "Everything all right, Kaid?" asked Meral.

  "Yes, fine," he said, getting to his feet and exiting the craft.

  "They've just found some fragments of stone that might be pieces of weapons," Meral said as he followed him back to where they were still digging. "It looks like this was a shrine to Vartra after all."

  "I rather thought it might be," Kaid murmured.

  * * *

  Kaid returned to his room after third meal. Propped up by pillows, he sat on his bed chewing a stim-twig and thinking. There was no reason now to keep Dzaka's parentage secret from him. Ghezu might have thought he was telling him a lie, but inadvertently he'd given him the truth. There was still an element of danger for his son should Ghezu discover his mistake, but at least now he was at his peak, while Ghezu was getting older, his mind eating itself up from within with his need for revenge.

  He'd tried to trust Dzaka and when the need for him to show some trust in return came up, he said nothing. It might be that he didn't want to face the truth because of the anger that lay between them. Ghezu had used that anger and turned it to hate. Perhaps in treating Dzaka the same as he would any of the people under his command, he'd forgotten the one important factor— he wasn't the same: he was his son, a fact he'd had to suppress all through Dzaka's childhood so that Ghezu would never guess the real link between the foundling and himself.

  He'd checked with Ni'Zulhu on Dzaka's movements today and been told that he'd taken an aircar and left the estate, heading toward Valsgarth, or beyond. Noni had said she'd received a second visitor, one who was troubled. Maybe that had been Dzaka trying to have Ghezu's news confirmed. Noni knew everyone and everything about Stronghold, but she couldn't have told Dzaka much because she didn't know what had happened between him and Khemu— until now. She'd have said to ask him.

  Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, he sat up and called Rulla on his wrist com.

  "Rulla, Kaid here. Where's Dzaka?"

  "On surveillance at the gatehouse. Anything wrong?"

  "No. I need to talk to him. Can you have someone up there to relieve him in fifteen minutes' time?"

  "No problem."

  "Don't tell him I'm on my way."

  "What's he been up to now, Kaid?" said Rulla. "Are you sure I can't help?"

  "Nothing's wrong. I need to speak to him on a personal matter."

  "I'll see to it now. Rulla out."

  * * *

  Fifteen minutes later, Dzaka came outside. As he stood in front of him, Kaid could see and feel the resentment in every line of his body.

  "They told me I'd been relieved of duty and that you wanted to see me."

  Kaid gestured for him to start walking. They moved away from the gatehouse, heading toward the Valsgarth estate where Dzaka was living now.

  "I've only asked for a temporary relief for you," said Kaid. "Noni called me this afternoon. What she said made me realize we needed to talk. You saw Ghezu today?"

  "He summoned me to Stronghold. I'm still one of the Brotherhood, even if the rest of you aren't," he said, his tone sharp and bitter. "I wondered how long it would take you to come and see me. Father." He said the word as an insult.

  Kaid winced instinctively, ears flicking.

  "Funny how you can talk about trust so easily yet show none yourself," Dzaka continued. "Why didn't you tell me? Have you been so ashamed of me in these past thirty years that you could never acknowledge me as your son?"

  "Dzaka, you don't ..."

  "Don't tell me any more of your lies! How you must have hated me all these years. There I was, an unwanted cub, a reminder of the fact that the only way you could have my mother was to drug her!"

  Kaid reached out and grabbed Dzaka by the arm, pulling him to a halt. The younger male turned on him with a snarl of rage but he held on.

  "Dammit, Dzaka! It wasn't like that. Ghezu's lying to you! He's using you against me again. Can't you see that?"

  "Let go of me," said Dzaka, his voice suddenly cold as his eyes began to narrow.

  Kaid stare
d at him for a moment then released him. "Ghezu's lying, Dzaka. He doesn't know you're my son. He's only guessing."

  "Am I your son?"

  "Yes, you are."

  "Then he's not lying."

  "He's only guessing, Dzaka. He doesn't know."

  Dzaka's ears flicked in a negative. "You're the one lying. You drugged my mother, then raped her, and I'm the proof of it. Why else would she disown and abandon me?"

  "I didn't drug her and I didn't rape her, Dzaka," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and even. He could see by the rapid, jerky movements of Dzaka's ears and tail that he was only just controlling his rage. "I told you, Ghezu's lying."

  "You're the liar, Kaid! No female willingly has a cub outside a three-year contract, we both know that, just as we know the drug you used neutralized her ability to choose whether or not she conceived! You used her, paired with her once and never saw her again. You treated her like a common qwene!"

  "It wasn't like that, Dzaka. Did Ghezu tell you he wanted her, too? All this is because of his jealousy. Khemu approached me that night. Ghezu knows because he heard her. I didn't need to drug her."

  "Don't lie!" Dzaka snarled, canines showing starkly in the moonlight as he leaned forward, ready to attack. "There was no way she'd have agreed to have your cub the first time you paired!"

  Kaid had to force his ears from instinctively flattening outward ready for a Challenge. The slightest move now could tip them into a fight to the death, and that was the last thing he wanted.

  "What happened when we paired was an accident. Neither of us intended for her to conceive," he said.

  "An accident?" Dzaka said scornfully. "Accidents like that don't happen, Father! You'll have to think up a more convincing lie than that!"

  "It's no lie. Something ... happened ... between us, and she left," he said. "I followed her but she wouldn't see me. I tried several times, but each time her family had me thrown off the estate until I was ordered by Father Jyarti not to go back. Then we heard she'd been killed in an accident."

  "Can you blame them? You'd dishonored their daughter— my mother! It might not have mattered that much down here in the lowlands, but in the mountains?"

  "She told no one, Dzaka. Her family didn't know I was the father. That's why I know Ghezu is lying! What happened was between Khemu and me, and it still is. You have no right to interfere."

  "I have no right to interfere?" he said, taking a step toward Kaid, his claws flicking out of their sheaths. "I'm her son!"

  "You're also my son," said Kaid, holding his ground. "Use your head, Dzaka! Why did Khemu carry you full term if she didn't want you? She could have aborted, but she didn't." He felt the first trace of doubt enter Dzaka's mind.

  "Yes, you were left at the gates of Stronghold, but when Garras and I found you, you'd not been there long. I knew you were my son the moment I held you. Why did I ask to foster you if I hated you? Think carefully, Dzaka. Who could have told Ghezu about your birth? What has he to gain from telling you all this?"

  "Noni knew!"

  "Noni knew nothing till today! When you told her what Ghezu said, then she worked it out!"

  "Everyone is conveniently lying but you, is that what you want me to believe?" he demanded, straightening up. "Well, I don't believe you! You've already destroyed her life completely, so stay away from her and at least let her die in peace! Her family may have been too afraid of you and Stronghold to take revenge for her, but I'm not, and, by Vartra, Father, you'll pay for what you did to her!"

  He lunged forward with such speed that Kaid was only just able to deflect some of the force of the blow, then Dzaka was gone.

  As he hit the ground, pain exploded along his forearm. Then Garras was kneeling over him, swearing as he pressed hard above the wound, trying to stem the bleeding.

  "I should have shot the tree-climbing little bastard when I had the chance," Garras muttered.

  "You followed me," said Kaid, trying to concentrate on what his friend was doing as the world wheeled crazily around him.

  "No. I sensed something was up. Now shut up, you need a medic." He raised his head toward the gatehouse and bellowed for a guard.

  All those on duty shot out of the door and stood looking at them, too stunned to come forward.

  "Get me a medikit now! Call Physician Reynolds at the house. Tell him I'm bringing Kaid in and that he's losing blood fast! Then get me a two-person hopper!" He turned his attention back to Kaid.

  "You're not that bad," he said, moving so the injured arm was out of Kaid's line of sight. "But it'll do them good to jump!"

  "Huh," said Kaid, trying to lift his head to look at his arm. "How long were you there?"

  "Long enough. I had you covered. I got a shot off at him but it missed."

  "You heard?" He could hear his voice becoming fainter and Garras seemed to be farther away.

  "I heard," he said as the guard came running over with the medikit. "Large pressure bandage," he snapped, holding out his hand for it.

  The guard pulled the sterile wrapper off and handed it to him.

  The voices took on a faraway quality and he was vaguely aware of Garras ordering the guard to contact Ni'Zulhu and mount a search for Dzaka, saying he was to be brought in alive.

  * * *

  When he came round he was in his own bed with Vanna checking the canula in his arm.

  "How do you feel?" she asked, seeing he was awake.

  "Tired," he said, closing his eyes again.

  "Good. You need to rest. You lost quite a lot of blood, you know. Garras told me it was Dzaka." She hesitated a moment. "I take it you'd told him he was your son."

  "Is there anyone who doesn't know?" he asked dryly.

  "Not many," she said. "Dzaka's voice was a little too loud a couple of times. They don't know the details, though."

  "Thank Vartra for that," he muttered. "Have they found him?"

  "Not yet. It's only a matter of time, though. Why did he try to kill you?"

  Kaid opened his eyes again, a slight smile on his face. "He wasn't trying to kill me, Vanna. He lashed out in anger, that's all."

  "That's all? He damned near did kill you, though. If Garras hadn't been there ..."

  He reached out with his good arm, placing his hand over hers and squeezing it gently. "But he was there, Vanna. That's what counts. Now tell me what the damage is. How long before it's healed?"

  "A good month, maybe two," she said. "I had to use a plasmagraft. He'd sliced you down to the bone, Kaid."

  "It happens," he said, closing his eyes again.

  "I'll let you sleep," she said, gently removing her hand. "Kusac and Carrie both wanted to see you but I've told them to wait till the morning."

  "Whatever you say, Vanna," he murmured.

  He waited till she'd gone, then cautiously sat up. The room swam for a few seconds then righted itself. He swung his legs over the bed and attempted to stand. Wobbly, but he could do it. Reaching out, he lifted the plasma infusion unit and carrying it in his good hand, he carefully made his way over to his desk. Sitting down, he put the unit on the desk and opened the bottom drawer.

  Inside it he kept his own emergency medical kit. Taking the sealed tube out, he unscrewed it, wincing as the action put some strain on his newly stapled wound. He checked the contents and took out the small container of tablets. Enough for now, he thought as he took a couple of the powerful stimulants. He sorted through the contents, checking the items he needed most. He had a couple of fresh dressings, a dozen analgesic tablets, sealant and antibiotic spray, and a dozen Fastheal tablets. He took two of the latter and closed the tube. He needed more medical supplies but he could pick them up at the Valsgarth estate's new medical unit. A handheld ultrasound unit, a hypoderm, two dozen ampules of analgesic, the same of stimulant, and some more Fastheal should do it. Maybe another couple of dressings to be on the safe side.

  Shutting the drawer, he picked up the plasma unit and staggered over to the cupboard, opening it and taking out his grey B
rotherhood jacket. With some difficulty, he managed to pull it on. He hesitated over the plasma unit, then stuffed it into the most convenient pocket. Might as well let it finish the infusion. His medikit tube he slipped into another pocket. Pulling the ends of the belt together, he managed to fasten it then he reached back into the unit to pull out his backpack.

  A wave of dizziness hit him and he had to sit down for a minute or two before he could open it. It was as he'd left it, with everything in it he might need for living rough. Getting up, he slung it over his shoulder and padded slowly to the window, thanking Vartra that his room was on the ground level. Before he left, he retrieved a slim volume from his secret cache. Stuffing it into an envelope, he addressed it to Carrie, leaving it on his desk.